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  “And...” Erik was curious about what she did and how she had gotten hurt. He knew it wasn’t his place to pry and assumed when Maddie was ready, she would tell him.

  “Erik, I’m a cop. A detective, actually.”

  “Oh. Well, that explains your talent with the handgun,” Erik said, processing this bit of information. He was surprised by Maddie’s career, but not shocked. Her attitude, physical shape, and demeanor alluded to her profession. It certainly explained her ability to shoot like a professional marksman. “I think it’s great you are in law enforcement but I get the very distinct idea there is more you need to tell me.”

  “Yes, there is.” Maddie took a deep breath and stared out across the field. Why was this so hard? The problem was when she told Erik about Zeus, she was afraid he’d pack up and leave and she would never see him again. That was what made her hands tremble and her heart trip. “Erik, I’ve been working on a case for three years and it has gotten pretty intense. In fact, this person that I’m chasing seems to have a personal vendetta against me. He’s the reason I’m home on leave.”

  “What happened to your arm?” Erik asked.

  “He sliced through my vest and sank his knife into my shoulder, twisting it a few times to make sure I got the message he wasn’t pleased with me.”

  “Maddie,” Erik said in a low voice, beginning to understand the strength the tiny woman beside him possessed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “He killed my mother and my partner, and countless others. Some we’ll probably never know about.” Maddie shivered, but felt compelled to continue. “His name is Zeus and he is one of the most evil and demented psychopaths I’ve ever come across. He sent a threat to me a few weeks ago that Aunt Lena is next on his list.”

  Erik sat up, his brow wrinkling in concern. It was one thing for some nut-job to be messing with Maddie in Seattle where she had the entire police force for protection. It was something else entirely when she was out on the farm with mile after mile of open space and no witnesses. A sudden need to protect and shelter her rose up in him.

  “What does that mean? Is Lena in danger?” Erik finally asked. “Are you in danger? Are we all in danger?”

  “Actually, we are. Anyone on the farm. Anyone associated with me. We haven’t been able to track down any leads that will help us catch him, yet. So now we are basically waiting for him to make the next move. If you want to leave, I understand. I don’t want to put you into any more danger than I already have. I’m worried about what he might do to you.”

  Erik let out his breath, trying to keep his temper in check. “How could you not tell me about this Maddie? Were you afraid I was the bad guy? Were you convinced I’m not trustworthy? It is more than unfair of you to put me into a position like this.”

  “I know and I’m sincerely and truly sorry. I had no right not to tell you, but I just wanted to make sure I could trust you first.”

  “Can you, Maddie? Can you trust me?” Erik’s eyes had grown dark and cold.

  Maddie studied Erik. He had every right to be angry at her. If he walked back to the bunkhouse, packed and left, she couldn’t blame him at all. “I know I can trust you. But I wouldn’t blame you if you leave and never look back.”

  Erik leaned back and tried to digest what Maddie was saying. It was hard to shift gears from thinking he was flirting with a pretty girl to having a conversation about a madman on the loose with his gun pointed in their direction.

  Sending up a quick prayer for patience and guidance, Erik once again took Maddie’s hand in his. “I’m not going anywhere, Maddie. I care about you and your family. But you’ve got to be honest with me and let me know what I can do to help. Walking around waiting to be blindsided isn’t exactly my style.”

  “I’m sorry, Erik. I should have told you sooner. I just didn’t… I,” Maddie gulped in air. Feeling way out of her comfort zone, she wasn’t used to sharing what she was thinking and feeling with others. “I didn’t want you to leave. I didn’t want to lose you before I had the chance to know you.”

  Erik’s heart thudded in response to what Maddie said. Giving her a warm smile, he squeezed her hand, his temper cooling considerably. “I appreciate you telling me that. Now, let’s talk about what we need to do to keep safe.”

  “That’s the thing, Erik. Zeus is unpredictable. He’s violent and thinks nothing about shooting someone in cold blood. Just like he did my mother. He warned me to back off the case and when I didn’t he hunted her down and shot her in her car on the way home from town. The back seat was full of groceries. Then he sent me pictures of it so I could see what he’d done.”

  Erik groaned. No one should have to see something like that. No one.

  “We had a set up with one of his men. It was the perfect scenario, but something tipped him off and he ran. My partner chased him down to the waterfront. They both went off the end of the pier and neither one of them was ever found. Another good man lost his life trying to find them. He was Danny’s partner.”

  At Erik’s look of surprise, she offered a crooked smile. “Danny isn’t really a cowboy or a hired hand and he most certainly isn’t from Texas with that ridiculous twang. He’s here to help keep us safe. His partner Glen tried to save my partner, Devin, who was shot right before he went in the water. That was the last time I saw him. We got a tip in May about a deal going down with Zeus and almost had him. I could have shot him between the eyes if I hadn’t hesitated for just an instant. Instead, he pulled a knife on me, dragged me down the alley, and then gave me a scar that will forever remind me that he is a mentally unbalanced, evil scumbag. Danny and I are committed to ending this with Zeus, but we don’t know how long it is going to take. I told Zach what is going on. I realize we need to tell Dad and Lena for their own safety’s sake, but I wanted to tell you myself. Alone. To give you the opportunity to walk away.”

  “I won’t walk, Maddie. If and when I decide to leave, I’ll be sure to let you know,” Erik said, leaning closer to her. “But right now, I’m staying.”

  “I’m glad,” Maddie whispered.

  “First, I think we need to find this Zeus,” Erik said, putting his hands on his knees and studying Maddie intently. “Now tell me everything I need to know.”

  Maddie filled Erik in on the case details she could share. It was a great relief to finally be honest with Erik.

  “I’m really sorry, Erik. By the time I knew I could trust you, I… um… was…” Maddie stuttered, trying to find the right words without sounding like a complete dolt.

  “You were what?” Erik didn’t cut her any slack. “Blown away by my charm? Astounded by my good looks? Overwhelmed by my witty conversations?”

  Maddie laughed. “All the above. And your muscles. Don’t forget your muscles.”

  “What about them, Madelyn?” Erik kept his voice teasing although his temperature was on the rise and his heart was pounding.

  “They can be pretty impressive. Sometimes,” Maddie said with a shy glance that made her look way too enticing.

  Erik flexed his arm and made her laugh. “Only sometimes?”

  “Most of the time,” Maddie said, blushing. How had the conversation taken a turn this direction? She was so disconcerted, she could hardly think.

  “Well, I won’t let it go to my head,” Erik said, flexing his biceps and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

  Maddie put her hands on the bulging muscles, squeezing lightly. She knew she was playing with fire, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Erik tugged her onto his lap, capturing her lips in a kiss that was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. The very air around them felt charged as heat snapped between them.

  When Erik finally set her on her feet, he stood, took a step back, and grinned. “I know I shouldn’t have done that but I can’t seem to muster up an ounce of regret.” With that, he turned and walked back to the work waiting for him.

  <><><>

  Running the swather and watching hay fall into neat windrows behind him gave Erik a strong s
ense of satisfaction. No matter what else he excelled at or was challenged by, he did know farming. It was something he could do in his sleep and quite often did in his dreams.

  Watching dust fog down the narrow lane from the house, he was surprised to see Maddie park the four-wheeler at the end of the field.

  When he got to the end of the row, he turned the machine around, killed the switch and climbed down.

  “Hey, Maddie, what are you doing out here?” he asked, trying to sound friendly and lighthearted, even though he’d rather brood. They hadn’t had any time alone for days and he still was trying to work through his feelings. He was overcoming guilt for his interest in another woman. Erik knew it wasn’t rational, but part of him felt like he was cheating on Sheila by even looking at Maddie. He was still a little miffed that she hadn’t trusted him sooner. Then there was the fear of being stalked by a madman.

  It all boiled down into a really confusing mess of emotions. For now, though, he was glad to see Maddie and surprised she had come all the way out here to check on him.

  Taking off his gloves and ball cap, he stuffed them in his back pockets before running his hands through his hair, creating a tousled mess that Maddie thought was entirely appealing.

  She grinned and held up a paper sack. “Aunt Lena made chocolate chip cookies and said you were partial to them, so I brought you out a couple along with some iced tea.”

  “You didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate it,” Erik said, leaning against the four-wheeler and taking the sack from Maddie. Biting into a still-warm cookie with chocolate chips melting like little lumps of decadent lava, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the experience.

  Opening them, he locked gazes with Maddie. She stood unmoving, watching him, falling into the pools of hot amber honey that stared back at her.

  She wasn’t sure what had gotten into her today, but as soon as Lena mentioned that Erik liked chocolate chip cookies, Maddie could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven so she could take him a few. She knew he was swathing hay on a back section of the place and decided it wouldn’t hurt to ride out and make sure all was fine. Danny was working at the shop and would keep an eye on the house and Aunt Lena while Zach and her dad had gone off to a farm sale.

  Unwilling to closely examine her motives or reasoning, she filled an insulated jug with iced tea and a sack with the cookies and took off before she could talk herself out of it.

  Now that she was out here, she was very glad she came. She hadn’t been able to spend much time getting to know Erik, but what she knew about him piqued her interest in a way no one had for a very long time.

  Everything Maddie needed to know about Erik could be summed up in the way he treated Boone, his dog. He was gentle and kind with the dog, making sure the animal’s needs were all met. He never let the dog get into a position where he could be hurt, yet gave the dog plenty of opportunity to play and have fun. Erik would have been a wonderful father and most likely was an amazing husband.

  Considering him as husband material caused Maddie’s heart to pound. Before she could think about what she was doing, she reached up and wiped a bit of melted chocolate from the corner of his mouth, letting her finger graze along his bottom lip.

  Just for a moment she forgot where they were. Why she was here. Who was most likely watching them. Just for a moment she was a lonely woman very attracted to a solid, good man.

  It was in that moment that Erik watched the emotions tumble across Maddie’s usually unreadable face and saw a reflection of his own wanting there. Keeping his stance relaxed, he set down the sack of cookies then slowly reached out and put his arms around Maddie’s waist, drawing her to him. Waiting for resistance that never came, he lowered his head to hers, tasting her lips gently, softly. They were even sweeter than he dreamed. Feeling Maddie run her small hands up his arms and tug down on his neck, he deepened the kiss, pulling her flush against him. Explosions of heat and fire sizzled in the fraction of space separating their bodies. When Erik finally pulled away, they both stood catching their breath, unsettled by the intensity of what had passed between them.

  “Maddie, I’m…” before he could apologize, she put her fingers on his lips, effectively silencing him.

  “Don’t, Erik.” Maddie couldn’t believe what had just happened. Depths of emotion she’d never felt were washing over her in waves that threatened to pull her off balance. “Please, don’t.”

  He took her hand in his, kissed her palm then smiled at her. “I wouldn’t mind if you brought me a treat like that every day,” he said, making her release a choppy laugh.

  “Right,” Maddie said, regaining her emotional footing. “If I did that, these windrows would look like a drunken idiot had been out here working. Nope, Farmer Man, you’ve got to keep your focus.”

  “Focus. Uh, huh,” Erik said, taking a long drink of tea. Maddie watched him tip back the jug and swallow, his Adam’s apple moving up and down. Sweat trickled along his neck and muscles tightened in his arm holding up the jug.

  The virility of his mannerisms was making heat pool in her middle and her toes tingle.

  Holding the jug of tea in one hand, Erik put his other hand on Maddie’s waist and gave it a gentle squeeze. Before he could lose all nerve, he decided to voice what was on his mind. “Would you be interested in having dinner with me in town Friday? Just the two of us? We could go somewhere nice.”

  Maddie nodded her head, surprised Erik would ask but happy that he did. “I’d like that very much.”

  “Great,” Erik said, not sure his feet were touching the ground. He had avoided his attraction for Maddie for weeks and was tired of pretending there wasn’t something going on between them. After her shooting lesson the other day, he hadn’t been able to get Maddie off his mind. Even if it only lasted for the summer, he wanted to see where this relationship could go.

  “I’ll be ready by six,” Maddie said

  Rather than take a step forward into Erik and see if he would kiss her again, Maddie took a step back. “I better get back to the house or Lena will send out the troops.”

  “I thought the troops were at a farm sale,” Erik said, setting the empty jug back on the four-wheeler.

  “Danny’s working in the shop,” Maddie said, strapping the jug down and climbing back on the four-wheeler.

  “Are you safe driving around in the open like this?”

  “No, but then again, Zeus could pick off any one of us any time he chooses. I can’t hide in the house and wait to see what happens, Erik. We all just have to keep right on doing what needs done around here. You sure you don’t want to get out of here while you still can?”

  “As crazy as it may sound, I’m staying, Maddie. Let me help you.”

  Maddie nodded through the tears that filled her eyes and gave Erik a watery smile. “Thank you for being such a good man.”

  “I don’t know about that, but I think I’d like to be your man,” Erik said with a boldness that shocked him. Where those words came from, he had no idea, and right now he’d like to snatch them back.

  Maddie felt something inside her melt, a dam break in her heart, and emotions she’d never felt before well up until she thought she might burst. She had thought herself in love with Devin, but she realized she had confused infatuation with love.

  This all-consuming feeling for Erik, Maddie realized, was the beginnings of real love.

  “I think I might like that too,” Maddie whispered, raising her hand to his cheek and letting it linger there for a moment.

  Erik turned his head and kissed her palm rubbing his hands gently across her back while staring into her warm blue eyes.

  Standing on tiptoe, Maddie pulled his head down for a quick kiss. Starting the four-wheeler she turned and left Erik standing in a cloud of dust, watching her go.

  Chapter Eight

  By the time five-thirty rolled around Friday evening, Maddie had tried on every piece of clothing in her closet, fussed with her hair which was now a frizzed mess, and was rea
dy to call off her date with Erik.

  In her undercover work, she had dressed in everything from seductive evening gowns to the rags of a homeless man, but tonight nothing she put on seemed right. She wasn’t big on wearing a lot of makeup, but she wanted to look nice. She wanted this evening to go well and so far she was a nervous wreck, complete with wild hair and mismatched clothes.

  Lena finally came into the room, surveyed the disaster and gave Maddie an intense look. “Well, kiddo, seems you’re wires are strung a bit tight this evening. Anything I can help with?”

  Biting her lip to keep from shooting her aunt a sarcastic response, Maddie finally nodded her head. “I can’t find a thing to wear, my hair is completely unmanageable and Erik is picking me up at six for a nice dinner. I can’t go looking like this.”

  Lena had the audacity to laugh, setting Maddie’s teeth on edge. “Nope. You certainly can’t go looking like that.”

  Maddie was in the midst of changing from one outfit to another and wore a sparkly blouse with holey jeans, a cowboy boot and one high heel.

  Huffing a sigh of irritation, Maddie collapsed on the bed. “I think I better just stay home. I’m starting to feel sick.”

  “Sure you are,” Lena agreed caustically. “Isn’t your nickname Mad Dog? I’d assume that means you’re tough and take charge. So get tough and take charge of this mess you’ve made. You don’t want to keep a fine man like Erik waiting. Although I was convinced it was Danny who had you all twitterpated.”

  Maddie glared at her aunt. She knew she shouldn’t be going out on a date with Erik when Zeus was no doubt lingering around, waiting for his opportunity to strike. But it had been weeks and nothing had happened. She hadn’t received any more messages from him, so she decided to take a chance and actually enjoy the evening. After all, she felt like she had spent the last several years with her life on hold, completely focused on catching him.

  She wanted just one night of normalcy. One night to remember what it was like to be admired by a handsome man and made to feel special.